Big Four giant is tight-lipped on details
Strong growth in KPMG’s legal services division has sparked speculation that the accountancy giant could be readying itself to increase its secretive training contract offering.
The firm revealed in its annual report published earlier this month that net sales within its legal division had grown by 53% over the last financial year.
Despite this, KPMG continues to remain tight-lipped over its current training contract offering and whether it has plans to increase that number in the future.
The report also revealed that the accountancy firm had seen “increased demand” across its legal department, including key practice areas “corporate and commercial, tax litigation and employment and immigration”.
When Legal Cheek contacted KPMG today, the firm confirmed that it offered training contracts, however it refused to divulge much else. Not wishing to comment on what it pays trainees, deadlines for applications or even how many positions are available, a spokeswoman for KPMG would only reveal that it offered a “very limited number” of law training contracts.
Rival Big Four outfit PwC Legal offers around 16 training contracts annually, while EY revealed in November that it was looking to recruit its first eight trainees. Legal Cheek understands from its spies that at present the majority of KPMG’s trainee solicitor positions are only advertised internally — and go to a mixture of paralegals and existing employees who want to become lawyers.
The accountancy giant currently has 88 fee-earners made up of both solicitors and barristers. With the area being described as a “strong potential growth” area in the firm’s latest report, it is likely that KPMG will up its training contract numbers in the near future — and hopefully widen its recruitment search beyond its office walls.
KPMG, EY and PwC Legal all acquired their alternative business structure (ABS) licences in 2014, allowing them to offer legal services. Since then they have grown rapidly in this area, leaving many City law firms watching on nervously. Deloitte remains the only member of the Big Four not to take the plunge into the UK law market.